Pulverized-fuel-burning furnace



April 10, .1928. 1,665,399

J. ANDERSON PULVERIZED FUEL BURNING FURNACE Filed May 13, 1921 s Sheets-Sheet 1 6mm] E fin uilt] UEIUEI DUE] [15cm Dunn DUDE] Emma UEIEIEJ mp5 EIEJEHII [JUDGE GOOO- April 10, 1928. l ",6 65,399

J ANDERSON PULVERIZED FUEL BURNING FURNACE Filed May 13. 1921 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Apr-i110, 192s. 1,665,399

J. ANDERSON PULVERIZED FUEL BURNING FURNACE Filed May 13. 1921 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 4 April '10, I928. 665,399

I J. ANDERSON v .PULVERIZBD FUEL BURNING-FURNACE Filed llay13. 1921 s' Sheets-Sheet 4 oueooooo 6000c ooooooo o April 10, 1928. 1,665,399

' J. ANDERSON PULVERIZED FUEL BURNING FURNACE Filed May 13, 1921 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 awwe/ntoz Patented Apr. 10, 1928 f UNITED+STATES JOI'IN ANDERSON; OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO COMBUSTION ENGINEER- PATENT. OFFICE.

ING CORPORATION, A CORPORATION OF NEW'YORK.

:PULvnniznn-FnnL-nnnnmci FURNACE.

Application filed May 13, 1921. Serial No. 469,131.

My invention relates to furnaces espe- .cially suited for burning powdered or pulverized fuel for the generation of steam,- although in some of its phases the invention may be also adapted andfextended to the burning of other fuels, and to uses other than with steam boilers. My aim is not only to secure thorough and eflicient combustion of the fuel and full utilization of the hot furnace gases, but also to protect and preserve the furnace structure fromrapid deterioration by the intense heat developed therein, and to minimize difliculties and deteriorating influences due to the effect of the heat on incombustible residues from the fuel. A further object of my invention is the improvement of furnace construction in various ways.

How these and other advantages can be secured tl'irough my iiiventionwill appear from my description hereinafter of the best form or embodiment of the invention at present known to me.

In the drawings, 1 is a front elevation of a steam boiler with a furnace and setting constructed in accordance with my portionof the furnace or setti'ngin section as indicated by the line 22 in Fig. 3, and most of the boiler structure broken away or omitted.

Fig. 3 shows a vertical. longitudinal section through the furnace and the boiler setting, taken as indicated by theline 3-3 in Figs. 1, 2, and 4-,, the boiler being shown unsectioned.

Fig. 4: shows a transverse section, taken as indicated by the line 4.4 in Fig. 3.

Figs. 5 and 6 show horizontal sections through the furnace structure and the setting, taken as indicated by the lines 5-5 and 6- 6 in Fig. 3,certain.parts being omitted from 5 for the sake of greater olearness of illustration.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, 3 and i, it will. be seen that the boiler here shown is of the general Edgemoor type, comprising steam drums 10 with depending front and rear headers 11 and 12 connected by a bank of water tubes 13 inclined upward toward the front. The front ends of the tubes 13 overlie an opening in the top or roof 141: of the combuston. chamber 15 of the furnace, and nace traverse the tubes in a succession of up and down transverse passes that are partly defined by the successive bafiies 16, 17 and 18in the tube bank. The gases return from the second (downward) pass across the tubes 13 to the third (upward) pass through a chamber 20 in the boiler setting at the rear side of the combustion chamber 15, and finally leave the boiler through a downward passage 21 in the setting. At the bottom of the return chamber 20 are a number of soot-hoppers 22 for periodically dischargingsoot, dust, etc. that precipitate and collect in said chamber.

Referring, now, to Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6, it will be seen that the combustion chamber or furnace proper 15 is a large, deep, oblong unobstructed chamber, quadrangular or. approximately rectangular in plan, enclosed by upright front, rear and end walls 24f, 25,

and 26, 26 whose inner faces slope outward slightly as they ascend, so that the chamber as a whole expands upward. Powdered fuel with somewhat more than carrying air is fed in through a plurality .ofdownward directed burners 27 (see especially Fig. 3) mounted in the roof 14, across the front of the combustion chamber and is ignited by the heat of the front wall 24. Air addi-' tional to that entering at the burners 27 is (or may be) supplied lower down through openings 28 at various heights and positions in the front wall 24, so as'to mingle with the. descending stream from the burners 27 and afford a suliicient excess of air to as sure complete combustion. The burning stream of mingled air, powdered fuel, and

combustible gases from the fuel descends in the front of the chamber 15 until its momen tum is overcome by the upward draft through the boiler; it then ascends and passes from the combustion chamber to the first (upward) pass of the boiler as: already described,-all about as diagrammatically indicated by the arrows in Fig. 3. The contiguity of the unbaflied upward and" downward fuel and flame streams in the rather narrow but unobstructed chamber 15 and their change of direction as described above assures rapid and complete combustion in the combustion chamber.

The relatively heavy incombustible residue from the fuel falls or is precipitated toward the floor and on the sides of the combustion chamben in a. finely divided and molten condrtiom 'llhat 1 lug directly to mass.

7 froinfthe deposit and thereby maintains the temperature thereof suflioiently low to preyent refusion. Just above the upperbank "oftubes' 32, the refractory lin ng of the coinbastienchamber is undercut all the way around, at 38, in a couple of sharp-angled rabbets or steps, thus making an abrupt overhang'of the wallsQ'l, 25, 26 that causes the mien-e111 slag running down them to-dro'p "ofiin nodules which are cooled by the screen, so has to reach the-floor of the chamber 15 in a, solidified, or unmolten state.

The oppositely inclined tubes of the banks :31 [and 32 are arranged in alternation. Tubes 31 of'the lower bank and tubes 32 of :the upper bank are connected, in groups comprising two or "three tubes ofeach kind, tol hea'der s 3.5 the front of the furnace; and tlieftubes belongingto the tWo banks which are thus interconnected by the headers 3.5 am thei v lv s connected to lower and upper inlet} and outlet headers 36 and 37 vspe'ctively. Tubes 38 v extending'forward from the rearfboi'ler he'a'der 12 in the bottom row ofthefbank 13 are bent and extended downward in and through the return chamber 20, carried on down through the forward Walls of the cinder hoppers 22, and connected to the inlet head rs Elli off the parallel groups of tubes just described, to serve as supply connections for the water screen y fo'rmedby these 'tu'beslli and 32; and tubes'39 extending rein-ward from the front boiler "header ll in the bottom row of the tank 13 are similarly bent-and extended "nw arid in and-through the return chain ber and the hopper walls and connected tolthe butlet headers 87 ofthe U groups to serve as dischange connections for the water screen. Thus the Water screen is connected into the 'boilercirculation in parallel with the boiler tubes '13 and acts to reinforce the .tiiroulation forward from the rear header '12 through the boiler tubes 'to the front lh'e'aderl-l.

' "The temperatures obtaining in the highly precipitated and adhering; thereon; so that if the furnace were of ordinary construction, its refractory walls or inner lining would .be speedily destroyed. To protect and preserve the refr: :tory wall or lining from these deteriorating influences of intense hcat and adherent slag, I provide for artificially cooling it below such slugging temperatures and to such a degree that not only will it remain entirely unfused, but that a thin layer of slag will solidify and be constantly maintained over its entire inner surface, thus at once protecting it and affording" a margin of safety against destructive overheating. This cooling I prefer to effect by external passage or circulation of cooling .air over the upper portion of the lining which encloses the high heat Zones of the con'ibustion chamber 15.

Accordingly, it will be seen from Figs. 3, l. 5 "and 6 that while the lower portions of the walls 24:. ant 26 eurrouiuling the coolinn Zone of the combustion chamber 15 are solid (consisting of an inner layer L0 of or:- tremely refractory material; an intermodiatelayer-ll of ordinary refractory material; and an outer retaining shell or wall. 4.2 of material for the most part not especially refractory,- such as ordiary brick), the upper portions of these walls that surround the high heat zoncs in the upper portion of the combustion chamber 15 are hollowfconsisting); only of the inner refractory wall or shell 4-0 and the outer retaining shell or wall 42,-thc latter reinforced and made more effectually thern1o-insulative by ,a layer 43 of hollow tile laid in alternate courses with ordinary brick against its inner side. In the thickness of the double combustion chamber wall, therefore.a there is an extended space :l-l for cooling air completely surrouiuling the high heat or temperature Zones of ihe coniluuslion chamber. This n'uu'al interspacc 44 is closed at the tops of the walls by a refractory copingl-5. 1y circulation of air through the extended iiassago a l thus ulfordcd the substantially isolated inner refractory wall can be eiiectually cooled throughout.

At the level of nearly everyone of the air admission openings 28 in the front wall 24 is a horizontal septun'l 46 3 and 4-) formed by fire brick projecting or built outward from the inner refractory wall 40. These septa 46 extend all the way across the front wall 24, across the end walls 26, 2G, and various distances across the rear wall '25, thus dividing the air space il in parallel into separate horizontal aircirculation passages 47 at different heights around the combustion chamber 15 and allording a means of controlling the distribution of cooling air overthe wallsAO. In the rear wall 25, vertical'refractory septa 48 extend down from the ends of the horizontal septa 46 to the llil] ill) bottom of theiair space 44, so as to form verticalalr passages 49 leading up to the opposite ends of eaclrof the extended horizontal impair the virtual isolation of the inner from the outer wall as against direct conduction of heat'l Also, they brace and strengthen the inner wall 4C0 structurally.

At the lower end of each of these vertical passages a9 is an air intake opening through the outer retaining wall 42 (here of refractory construction, on account ofthe numerousl'1eat-c0nducting connections to the 3 inner wall 40 formed by the septa) to the rear of .thefurnace.

g Provisionis made for admission or supply of outside air to the combustion chamber 15 directly through the front wall 24 at each of the openings 28 in the innerwlining lO, by means of suitable refractory conduits 51 built into the walls 40 and L2, and extending across the coolingspace 44; and this admission of outside air may be regulated in amount at each opening 281by means of an adjustabledamper 52 mounted in an externally flanged intake piece 53 which is itself built'into the outer wall 42. Provision is madefor-admission of the warmed cooling airfrom the circulating passages 47, 49 at j each of the openings 28 by means of ports 54 infthe lower sides of the conduits 51, and thisadmlsslon of warmed cooling air may be .regulated by (adjustment of sliding dampers 55 inside said conduits.

By proper correlative adJuStInent of the dampers 52 and 55,1the amount and temperabustifon chamber 15 can be concurrently regulated by the same means tosecure just the right temperature for the inner surface of thewall 40,.so as to avoid injury to the wall by overheating or in'ipairment of the furnace efficiency byoverchilling. This concurrent regulation of air. circulation and air admission by means of the dampers .52 and 55 offers no practical difficulties, because when large amounts of fuel supplied through the burners 27 require liberal air adn'iission for efficient combustion; the high heat produced in the furnace will require liberal circulation of cooling air to protect and preserve the walls. i a

The air coollng of the combustion chamber wall 40 permits full advantage to be taken of the water screen 31, 32 to minimize the admission of air at the openings 28, and thus to improve the general efficiency of the installation. In other words, such provisions for cooling and protecting the front of the combustion chamber and maintaining a coo1- ing zone in its lower region make it unneces sary to admit at 28 an excess of cool air (over and above the air required to assure complete combustion) in itself suflicient to pro tect the front portions of the wallAO and to maintain an effective cooling zone in the bottom of the combustion chamber,accord ing to previously existingpractice with pow dered fuel furnaces of the general type here illustrated. Such an excess of air necessarily reduces the final temperature of the furnace gases, and thereby lowers the overallfurnace and boiler efficiency as expressed in evaporation per unit of fuel used.

From Figsu5 and 6, it will be seen that the hollow tile 43 at the inner side of the structural outer shell or wall 42 are laid to permit passage of air through and from: the hollow tile in the front wall 24 to and through those of the end walls 26 and viceversa, and likewise between thelatter and the cooling air passages 47 and 49.

septa 4:6, 4l8 make the problem of strength and stability for the wall 40 a difficult one. This ditliculty is considerably enhanced by the extreme variation and range of temperature to which the wall 40 is subjected, which give rise to expansion and contraction so great as to make it highly undesirable to unite the ends and sides at the corner of the furnace with any degree of rigidity, or to unite the tops of these walls to the coping I prefer, therefore, to divide thecnd and side Walls 4:0 from one another at the corners. as clearly shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and to make these walls ofpurved cross-section horizontally so as to give them inherent individual stability and strength, minimize their dependence on the outer shell for lateral. support, and permitcontraction and expansion to takeplace freely. As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, therefore, these walls are flatcurved,-i. e., their curvature is so small as compared with their horizontal extent that it does not substantially afiect or impair the rectangular character of the combustion chamber. For like reasons, I prefer to simply have the tops of the walls 40 overlap the copping witha slip-joint,shown as rabbeted at the rear of the furnace. The several Walls 40 may also be individually reinforced with one or more built in arches 60, as shown in Figs. 3 and i. i

The outward sloping of the walls of the combustion chamber increases its volumetric capacity toward the top which is advantageous-for the reason that the fuel and flame stream increases in size as gasification of the refractory walls flat-curved horizontally for strength and stability.

f2. quadrangular pulverized fuel comfibustienchaniber with substantially isolated walls'divided from one another by expanfsi'o'njoints at the corners, and flat-curved horizontally for individual strength.

Aquadrangulal' pulverized fuel combustion chamber with substantially isolated refractory walls 'sloping upward and outward,v with iisolated'external "lateral support only, and flat curved horizontally for individual strength.

' 4. A'substantially quadrangularexternally air-cooled .1: ulverized fuel combustion Z5 ehambenenclosed by substantially isolated fflaring pulverized fuel combustion chamber refractorywiills, so'thinasto be kept below f slaggingtemperature .at their inner faces by cooling, and flat-curved horizontally for "Strength. 4

i A substantially quadrangular upwardaifordingspace and depth for substantially "Loomfplete combustion of a downward directed 'fuelst-ream,'and for a cooling zone be- 5 lowjthezreglon of'combustlomwith a thermo- "insulative outer shell and thin, refractory outwardrsloping inner walls spaced inward from :said outer shell to afford an interspace 'for air cooling, laterally sustained by the outer walls. j V

"'6. substantially quadrangular upwardfiaring'pulverized fuel combustion chamber aiforc'lingspace and'depth for substantially completecombustion of a downward directed fuel stream, and for a cooling zone 'below thexregion of combustion, with athermo-i'nsulative outer shell and thin, refractory outward-slopinginner walls spaced in- "war dfromsaid outer shell to afford an in terspace for air cooling, and horizontally curved to minimize dependence on the outer shell for lateral support.

TA substantially quadrangular pulverized'fuel combustion chamber with at-hermo- 5 insulatire outer shell and thin, refractory septa for controlling the distribution of coo ing air.

8. "In a furnace for burning pulverized fucha combustion chamber having a double wall providing an air space at the high 'temperature zones of the chamber, means extendingthroughsaid space for supplying air to the combustion chamber, and means for regulably admitting air from said airspace to said first means.

9. A furnace for burning powdered fuel comprising a combustion chamber with a powdered fuel burner directed downward 'thereinto and a double wall with extended air'cooling space therein surrounding the high-heat zones of said chamber,conduits "for supplying air to said combustion chamber extending across the cooling space of said wall, and means for the regulated admission-of air from said cooling space to said conduits.

l0. Ina furnace for burning pulverized fuel, a combustion chamber having an air space in the wall thereof, means extending "through the wall for admitting air from the exterior to said combustion chamber and 'alsocommunicating withsaid air space, and means for independently regulating the air supply from the exterior and from said air space.

11. In'a"pulverized fuel burning furnace, a combustion chamber having an air space inthe walls thereof andhaving a battery of conduits in-the front thereof for supplying air from the exterior into the combustion chamber at various points separated hori zontallyand vertically, said conduits also communicating with the air space, and means for admitting a downwardly directed stream of fuel in the upper part o'f'the combustion chamber adjacent "the front thereof.

12. A furnace of the character described comprising a combustion chamber with refractory inner wallymeans for admission of 'a downward directed fuel stream adjacent its front, an outer shell about said inner wall "spaced and substantially isolated therefrom, and a battery of conduits mounted in the front portion of said inner wall, at various points spaced apart horizontally and vertically, and projecting through openings in said-outer wall that afford them freedom "for relative movement to accommodate expansion and contraction of'thc wu'lls, said runduits also-communicating with the interspace, with provisions for admission of air "throughsai'ol interspace to said conduits.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

J' 'OHN ANDERSON. 

